Computer applications, particularly Internet applications, often contain various user interface (UI) elements that may draw the focus of the user. The “in-focus” UI element is the element at which user-generated input is directed. A few examples of UI elements that may receive focus include, but are not limited to, links, buttons, drop-down lists, checkboxes, radio buttons, text fields, text areas, and images. During use of web applications, a web page is often required to reload in response to a server call. For instance, the web page may be required to populate a form field, or the user may direct the application to move to the next stage in a process, or return to a previous stage. After an application page is reloaded, focus is typically returned to the top of the page or to a UI element that the application designer has hard-coded as the default focused element, such as the address bar of an Internet application.
After a page is reloaded, users often desire to focus on the same element that was in focus prior to reloading. In such cases, the typical manner in which known applications handle focus is inefficient. Because the focus shifts automatically from the element on which the user was most recently focused to the top of the page or to a location hard-coded by the developer, the user must re-navigate through the page to the desired element, reducing the efficiency and usability of the application. This is particularly inefficient for users who prefer to navigate applications using the keyboard, as it may require numerous depressions of a button to “tab” through UI elements until reaching the desired element.